Shawna Blake Literature and Society- Dr. Sherry September 30th, 2013 Varsity Vs. Club Sports Problem When people think of college or debate what university they want to attend, sports are often an important factor. Athletics play a significant part in the majority of college students in the present time. Whether a student is a member of a sports team or just watching a game with friends, it provides them with an opportunity to bond with other students and feel more connected to the college community. There are a myriad of students who would love to be a member of a sports team during their college experience. Being part of a team doesn’t just allow a student to bond and form friendships with their team members, it also keeps them in shape and allows the student to have a sense of internal motivation. The problem with so many students wanting to be an athlete is there are only a certain amount of positions open on varsity sports teams. This is where club sports come into effect. Club sports provide students with the opportunity to play a sport and be a part of a team without having to be on a varsity level. There are many similarities as well as differences between college varsity sports and club sports. In this paper I will compare and contrast club sports and varsity sports using data I collected from interviews and personal observations. I will then take the data I collected and use it to draw conclusions on how sports tie into the college culture and the meaning of education. Background Club sports can be defined as sports that contain teams of non-varsity level players who still compete with teams from other universities. Club teams often do not require tryouts and accept anyone who wants to play. Since mostly everyone who wants to join the team is accepted, club teams are generally larger than typical sports teams. Club teams don’t normally have a regular coach; instead they are lead by an upperclassmen student or an alumni of the college. Since club sports are student run and not necessarily a part of the university, they have to run everything on their own. Uniforms, transportation, practice space, etc. are all the responsibility of the members of the team; nothing is really provided for the teams. Club teams only compete a few times per semester and are not registered through the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In a national study of student athletes conducted by Josephine R. Potuto and James O'Hanlon, they interviewed college varsity athletes to see how their athletic experiences affect their college life [1]. Only 66% of the varsity team members interviewed said that they feel their coach thinks it is very important for them to graduate. The other 34% responded that their coach find it either somewhat important or not important for the members to graduate. The interviews also found that a quarter of the students interviewed would not have attended college if they didn’t get an athletic scholarship. Another question asked in the interview was whether student athletes considered themselves more of a student or more of an athlete. The researchers found that 60% of the students interviewed considered themselves an athlete over a student[2]. The finding from this national study show just how competitive and accredited college varsity sports are. The fact that a numerous amount of student athletes feel that their coach doesn’t care if their members graduate or not shows how important the sport is to the coach. Often times the coaches don’t take into consideration that their members are also college students with other work to do. They are mainly focused on making their athletes the best at their sport and winning as many games as possible to move on to further competitive levels. Athletic scholarships also show how significant varsity sports are to colleges and universities. These scholarships are awarded when a university see’s a student play and wants them on their team so badly, they are willing to pay for their whole tuition. Often times student athletes would not be able to afford to go to the college of their choice without an athletic scholarship. The fact that 60% of student athletes think of themselves more as an athlete than a student shows how meaningful the sport is to them. Many athletes have to form their schedules around their games and practices and have to find a good balance between their athletics and school work. Since many students would not be at the university they play for if they did not receive a scholarship, it is easy to see how they view themselves as more of an athlete[3]. Reading this study got me to wonder if college club team members feel the same way. Do they think of themselves as more of a student or more of an athlete? Do they think their coaches care more about winning than them successfully graduating? Do they attend a college because of the club sports teams they have? Would they chose to put athletics above their academics in their priorities? Method To answer the proposed questions above, I used ethnographic research approaches parallel to the ones we went over in class during the steps to the project. I wanted some direct answers to my questions so I interviewed a few students from both varsity sports teams and club sports teams. I am a member of the club ultimate frisbee team, so I had a great opportunity to observe the club sport aspect from the inside. I also attended a varsity football game and a varsity soccer game to observe the way they play and the way their coaches interact with them during a game. From my interviews and observations, I gained a great deal of knowledge on the way club and varsity sports differ and also how they are similar. Findings In general, I found that college varsity sport are indeed more intense than club sports. I interviewed members of club sports teams and asked them the same questions the national study asked varsity member students so I could compare them[4]. “Since the captain of the team is a student himself, I feel like he wants us to graduate more than he wants us to play. If I have homework to do or have to study, the captain would rather have me do what I need to get done than come to practice and not do my school work. Sports had little effect on my choice to come to Bloomsburg. I did not even know I would join a team until I started school so it’s definitely not the reason I came to school here. I would consider myself a student more than an athlete. I would only really consider myself an athlete if I was on a varsity team” (Female Club Athlete). “There is no coach for our team since it is a club sport, but we do have a captain. I believe he wants us to focus on our school work and balance it out with practices. We are not required to go to every single practice, we just go when we can. I thought about playing on the varsity soccer team when I came to Bloomsburg, but I didn’t have enough time in my schedule for it. I still wanted to play a sport, so I joined the club ultimate frisbee team. I did not even know there was such a team, so it did not influence my decision to attend Bloomsburg. I consider myself a student because that’s what I’m paying for. I came to school to learn and be a student, I’m only an athlete on the side” (Female Club Athlete)[5]. While observing varsity and club games, I realized that even though they seem very similar, the games differed in many ways. First off, club sports don’t normally have referees like varsity sports do. In a club sport, the players call fouls for themselves and they either agree or contest on their own. If there is a foul on the play and the player doesn’t call it, nothing is done and it goes unnoticed. While watching varsity sports games I noticed the coach yells a lot during the actual game. The coach is constantly telling the players where they should be and what they should be doing. Since there is no real coach for a club team, there isn’t a lot of direction going on. I asked a club team member about this and she said that the captain doesn’t yell out much during the game, instead they talk about what they could improve either after the game or at their practices. In both kinds of games the players are still motivated and competitive throughout the whole game. Although club members don’t compete as part of the NCAA, winning is still important to them and they still want to do the best they can to win. Conclusion Based on the data I collected through my interviews and observations, I can see that club sports and varsity sport are pretty different. Club sports are a good alternative to varsity sports if a student wants to play a sport, but doesn’t have enough time or skill to commit to a varsity one. Club sports offer many benefits for a student such as making new friends, staying in shape, and giving them something to do in their free time. These findings say a lot about college culture to me. If a student really wants to be a part of something, its nice to know they can keep their options open. To me, college is all about freedom and being on your own. It’s the first step to being in the real world by yourself and having to figure everything out individually. In college, students have a choice over basically everything they do. They can chose what classes they take, when and where they eat, what they do in their free time, and the list goes on. That being said, club sports offer a student the ability to be on a sports team that fits their schedule. They can work practices, games and tournaments into their daily schedules easily since they are not strongly required. They can choose which practices to go to and which ones would be more beneficial to miss. In my opinion, choosing to play on a club sports team if you can’t be on a varsity team shows a lot of intelligence. It is a very educated decision to continue to play and compete even if it’s not on an official NCAA run team. Being able to find a balance between athletics and academics is an intelligent skill mastered by both varsity and club team members. A sports team member makes the educated decision to join a team for inner motivation. Many student athletes use their sport to motivate them through their college experience. They look forward to practices because they get to do what they love with people they love to be around. Being able to find the right activities to fit your needs and making yourself happy with how you spend your free time is a display of an educated college student.
Literature and Society- Dr. Sherry
September 30th, 2013
Varsity Vs. Club Sports
Problem
When people think of college or debate what university they want to attend, sports are often an important factor. Athletics play a significant part in the majority of college students in the present time. Whether a student is a member of a sports team or just watching a game with friends, it provides them with an opportunity to bond with other students and feel more connected to the college community. There are a myriad of students who would love to be a member of a sports team during their college experience. Being part of a team doesn’t just allow a student to bond and form friendships with their team members, it also keeps them in shape and allows the student to have a sense of internal motivation. The problem with so many students wanting to be an athlete is there are only a certain amount of positions open on varsity sports teams. This is where club sports come into effect. Club sports provide students with the opportunity to play a sport and be a part of a team without having to be on a varsity level. There are many similarities as well as differences between college varsity sports and club sports. In this paper I will compare and contrast club sports and varsity sports using data I collected from interviews and personal observations. I will then take the data I collected and use it to draw conclusions on how sports tie into the college culture and the meaning of education.
Background
Club sports can be defined as sports that contain teams of non-varsity level players who still compete with teams from other universities. Club teams often do not require tryouts and accept anyone who wants to play. Since mostly everyone who wants to join the team is accepted, club teams are generally larger than typical sports teams. Club teams don’t normally have a regular coach; instead they are lead by an upperclassmen student or an alumni of the college. Since club sports are student run and not necessarily a part of the university, they have to run everything on their own. Uniforms, transportation, practice space, etc. are all the responsibility of the members of the team; nothing is really provided for the teams. Club teams only compete a few times per semester and are not registered through the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In a national study of student athletes conducted by Josephine R. Potuto and James O'Hanlon, they interviewed college varsity athletes to see how their athletic experiences affect their college life [1]. Only 66% of the varsity team members interviewed said that they feel their coach thinks it is very important for them to graduate. The other 34% responded that their coach find it either somewhat important or not important for the members to graduate. The interviews also found that a quarter of the students interviewed would not have attended college if they didn’t get an athletic scholarship. Another question asked in the interview was whether student athletes considered themselves more of a student or more of an athlete. The researchers found that 60% of the students interviewed considered themselves an athlete over a student[2].
The finding from this national study show just how competitive and accredited college varsity sports are. The fact that a numerous amount of student athletes feel that their coach doesn’t care if their members graduate or not shows how important the sport is to the coach. Often times the coaches don’t take into consideration that their members are also college students with other work to do. They are mainly focused on making their athletes the best at their sport and winning as many games as possible to move on to further competitive levels.
Athletic scholarships also show how significant varsity sports are to colleges and universities. These scholarships are awarded when a university see’s a student play and wants them on their team so badly, they are willing to pay for their whole tuition. Often times student athletes would not be able to afford to go to the college of their choice without an athletic scholarship.
The fact that 60% of student athletes think of themselves more as an athlete than a student shows how meaningful the sport is to them. Many athletes have to form their schedules around their games and practices and have to find a good balance between their athletics and school work. Since many students would not be at the university they play for if they did not receive a scholarship, it is easy to see how they view themselves as more of an athlete[3].
Reading this study got me to wonder if college club team members feel the same way. Do they think of themselves as more of a student or more of an athlete? Do they think their coaches care more about winning than them successfully graduating? Do they attend a college because of the club sports teams they have? Would they chose to put athletics above their academics in their priorities?
Method
To answer the proposed questions above, I used ethnographic research approaches parallel to the ones we went over in class during the steps to the project. I wanted some direct answers to my questions so I interviewed a few students from both varsity sports teams and club sports teams. I am a member of the club ultimate frisbee team, so I had a great opportunity to observe the club sport aspect from the inside. I also attended a varsity football game and a varsity soccer game to observe the way they play and the way their coaches interact with them during a game. From my interviews and observations, I gained a great deal of knowledge on the way club and varsity sports differ and also how they are similar.
Findings
In general, I found that college varsity sport are indeed more intense than club sports. I interviewed members of club sports teams and asked them the same questions the national study asked varsity member students so I could compare them[4].
“Since the captain of the team is a student himself, I feel like he wants us to graduate more than he wants us to play. If I have homework to do or have to study, the captain would rather have me do what I need to get done than come to practice and not do my school work. Sports had little effect on my choice to come to Bloomsburg. I did not even know I would join a team until I started school so it’s definitely not the reason I came to school here. I would consider myself a student more than an athlete. I would only really consider myself an athlete if I was on a varsity team” (Female Club Athlete).
“There is no coach for our team since it is a club sport, but we do have a captain. I believe he wants us to focus on our school work and balance it out with practices. We are not required to go to every single practice, we just go when we can. I thought about playing on the varsity soccer team when I came to Bloomsburg, but I didn’t have enough time in my schedule for it. I still wanted to play a sport, so I joined the club ultimate frisbee team. I did not even know there was such a team, so it did not influence my decision to attend Bloomsburg. I consider myself a student because that’s what I’m paying for. I came to school to learn and be a student, I’m only an athlete on the side” (Female Club Athlete)[5].
While observing varsity and club games, I realized that even though they seem very similar, the games differed in many ways. First off, club sports don’t normally have referees like varsity sports do. In a club sport, the players call fouls for themselves and they either agree or contest on their own. If there is a foul on the play and the player doesn’t call it, nothing is done and it goes unnoticed. While watching varsity sports games I noticed the coach yells a lot during the actual game. The coach is constantly telling the players where they should be and what they should be doing. Since there is no real coach for a club team, there isn’t a lot of direction going on. I asked a club team member about this and she said that the captain doesn’t yell out much during the game, instead they talk about what they could improve either after the game or at their practices. In both kinds of games the players are still motivated and competitive throughout the whole game. Although club members don’t compete as part of the NCAA, winning is still important to them and they still want to do the best they can to win.
Conclusion
Based on the data I collected through my interviews and observations, I can see that club sports and varsity sport are pretty different. Club sports are a good alternative to varsity sports if a student wants to play a sport, but doesn’t have enough time or skill to commit to a varsity one. Club sports offer many benefits for a student such as making new friends, staying in shape, and giving them something to do in their free time.
These findings say a lot about college culture to me. If a student really wants to be a part of something, its nice to know they can keep their options open. To me, college is all about freedom and being on your own. It’s the first step to being in the real world by yourself and having to figure everything out individually. In college, students have a choice over basically everything they do. They can chose what classes they take, when and where they eat, what they do in their free time, and the list goes on. That being said, club sports offer a student the ability to be on a sports team that fits their schedule. They can work practices, games and tournaments into their daily schedules easily since they are not strongly required. They can choose which practices to go to and which ones would be more beneficial to miss.
In my opinion, choosing to play on a club sports team if you can’t be on a varsity team shows a lot of intelligence. It is a very educated decision to continue to play and compete even if it’s not on an official NCAA run team. Being able to find a balance between athletics and academics is an intelligent skill mastered by both varsity and club team members. A sports team member makes the educated decision to join a team for inner motivation. Many student athletes use their sport to motivate them through their college experience. They look forward to practices because they get to do what they love with people they love to be around. Being able to find the right activities to fit your needs and making yourself happy with how you spend your free time is a display of an educated college student.